I’m a pig-out person,” says restaurateur and food lover Beng Dee. Even if her lithe figure suggests otherwise. You don’t even question the disparity; she’ll probably attribute it to genes and then you’ll be forced to reckon with the realization that life is rarely fair. Especially after she tells you that she doesn’t exercise. That she’s had four kids. And that her eldest is 26 years old.
“All we do is eat. Eating is our family bonding.” Yes. Life? Definitely unfair.
Beng Dee is one of those women you’d love to hate. She’s slim and fine-boned pretty. She’s got style. She lives in a fabulous Andy Locsin-designed, Ed Calma-decorated house. She has an amazing wardrobe. She jetsets. She runs a successful business. And she just happens to have great skin that rarely needs facials or excessive skin care routines.
But Beng Dee is also faultlessly nice and engaging, and a darn good host. So hating on her would only be an excessive waste of time and energy. Plus, she can tick off the best places to eat in all over the world better than a Luxe guide or Time Out. Who can turn her back on that?
To say that she loves food is an understatement. Beng, who runs the fastfood eateries Chin’s Express and Inihaw Express, has found comfort, passion and career in gastronomic delights, and shares this with her husband Rikki Dee, who is co-owner of modern restaurants Kitchen, Ebun and Mangan, and fine-dining establishments Mesa and Kai.
The Dee couple combines their gourmet enthusiasm with another passion: traveling, which they try to do at least once a month. They’re bound for another jetset, in fact, leaving for Barcelona next week to attend a leadership conference. From the Catalan city, they will be taking a “gastronomic road trip” to Zaragoza, Burgos and Madrid before flying off to Florence and to Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Beng is expecting to do some shopping in this trip. But their main objective, as always, is again to experience the food choices each city has to offer. “We can go to about three to four restaurants a day, even in a night,” she relates, outlining a usual itinerary that involves lunch, a short walking tour, cocktails, starters, dinner, and then after-dinner affairs. Dessert? “I can skip dessert. I’m not big on sweets,” Beng says. Maybe that’s her stay-slim secret. “Although I do love cocktails.” Or maybe not.
Philippine STAR: What are your favorite travel destinations?
Beng Dee: It’s still Asia. I love Hong Kong but my favorite is still Tokyo — I feel like I was Japanese in my previous life. Everything about Tokyo is great. Their art, their architecture, how they do things: these are all food for the eyes. Outside of Asia, I like Italy. I like Italian food. Better than French, anyway, although the last time we were in France, we went to Bordeaux and went on this wine tour in one of the vineyards and in the chalet. It was so beautiful.
Seems like you really travel to eat…
Yes, we do. When we travel, all we do is eat, eat, eat.
I really eat anything. But I would say, it’s still Chinese food. In Hong Kong, I love their hole-in-wall restaurants where you just eat and go.
How adventurous have you been?
I’ve tried horse meat sashimi in Tokyo. I don’t like it. It’s too chewy.
Which restaurant is on your must-eat list?
We’re going to Barcelona this month. We wanted to go to El Bulli but they will still be closed since they close six months of the year and they’re only opening by July. It would be an experience to try their foam food, although I tried foam food in Bordeaux — it’s nothing interesting.
Well, foam food is basically air with taste…
I’m really more of a pig-out person. We have this favorite restaurant in Madrid where I love their cochinillo and another one where I must always eat their cocido. All over Spain, I just always eat their tapas. Although, I must say, our tapas here in the Philippines have more flavor.
How do you choose the restaurants you eat in?
Sometimes we look for the Zagat-rated ones. Or we look up restaurants in Where magazine. But most of the time, we just walk around and “browse” the restaurants. Sometimes, we end up in a good one, sometimes we don’t. If we find a good one, we always go back.
Do you have a favorite chef?
I like Mario Batali. I hope I can meet him one of these days.
What cuisine would you like to reinvent?
I would probably like to have a nice Chinese restaurant: with modern ambience, beautiful presentations, but without changing the quality of traditional Chinese food.
Do you cook?
I can cook Chinese and Filipino. I do product development for our fast food eateries.
What cuisine do you yet have to try?
I’m going to Russia so I will try something new there.
How would you describe your style?
I love convertible clothes because, then, I can create my own look. For example, when I wear a cardigan, I wear it one-sided instead of in the usual way. I like sexy but subtle clothes, although not too sexy because I really have nothing to show, anyway — maybe my back.
I’m not really into couture or made-to-order because I am very impatient. I don’t like the fitting part because I feel, when I wear it, that I’ve worn the dress too many times already. But, if I would look at their creations, I like Rajo Laurel, Randy Ortiz and Dennis Lustico. Dennis has made clothes for me before and, the good part is, I only had to fit my clothes once.
What are your preferred brands?
Right now, I like Calvin Klein and Diane von Furstenberg. I like clothes that flow nice and with edgy cuts.
Where are your shopping haunts?
I try to shop abroad because I really travel a lot — in the past five years, I’ve been traveling 12 times a year. When I’m in Asia, I like going to local brands. I like one-of-a-kind things.
What is your shopping style? Do you linger or are you impulsive?
I have a very small window for shopping when I am with my husband, which I am 100 percent of the time when I am traveling. So I have learned to shop fast. No more fitting. Now, I shop online. I have more time shopping online than when I’m with my husband. I have a favorite site now, shopbop.com, because they ship for free internationally as long as you purchase $100 worth of merchandise. And it comes in three days.
Do you collect anything?
If you consider shoes a collection, then yes. That’s my excuse to my husband now every time he asks why I’m buying shoes again. I love high heels — the higher the better. I used to like Manolo Blahnik but their heels are a bit low. I like Jimmy Choo now since they’re coming up with higher heels. I can wear anything and not complain about my feet hurting. In fact, I have a problem walking in flats; I suffer from back pains each time I wear flats.